The present study conducted by a high school student Gleb Rukhovich under supervision of PhD student Leonid Romashov shows that contact with water facilitates simple platinum and palladium salts to aggregate into various clusters - chemical species, which contain more than one metal atom. It is an important observation, since toxicity of clusters can significantly exceed toxicity of simple salts.

The human body is composed of numerous types of molecules, both simple and complex, and all fundamental processes in a living body occur in water solutions. Therefore, for a drug to work, it must dissolve in body liquids, which are primarily water. Polymorphism of solid substances, a well-known problem of drug delivery, is the ability of solid drugs to form several different crystal structures (polymorphs). Polymorphs may differ in properties like biological activity, and in addition, their formation is difficult to control.

A recently published study gives a vivid example of unusual chemical reactivity associated with organogold complexes. Using modern physical methods and computational studies, the authors propose a reaction mechanism in which a molecule of acetic acid serves as a proton shuttle, transferring the hydrogen atom between the reaction centers.

Researchers of the laboratory compared three different drug delivery models based on ionic liquids. Scientists have developed a powerful API-IL concept to realize structural diversity and to develop dual-action pharmaceuticals. The study, published in
ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters, introduces new drug delivery concepts using ionic and covalent molecular interactions.

A joint project of scientists from Russia has investigated chemical applications of calcium carbide. The project advances the idea of diverse acetylene chemistry on the basis of carbide technology. Using the proposed approach, cheap, available raw carbide material has been effectively transformed into valuable products that are in demand for material science and organic synthesis.

A recently published study gives a vivid example of unusual chemical reactivity associated with organogold complexes. Using modern physical methods and computational studies, the authors propose a reaction mechanism in which a molecule of acetic acid serves as a proton shuttle, transferring the hydrogen atom between the reaction centers.

ZIOC installed a 3D printer in the laboratory of professor Ananikov on July 6, 2015. 3D printing technology will be used in breakthrough projects, aimed at developing efficient chemical reactors and microreactor systems.

A convenient procedure to visualize defects on graphene layers by mapping the surface of carbon materials with an appropriate contrast agent was introduced by a team of researchers from Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow) involved in international collaborative project. A new imaging tomography procedure has revealed organized patterns of defects on large areas of carbon surfaces. Several types of defects on the carbon surface can be "caught" and captured on the microscopic image within a few minutes. The article describing the research was published in
Chemical Science, the journal of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

A computational study carried out at Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow) focused on the mechanistic pathway of the enzyme-catalyzed cycloaddition reaction leading to Spinosyn A – tetracyclic natural insecticide produced by the cells of the bacterium Saccharopolyspora spinosa. Computational modeling revealed energetically balanced reaction coordinate of the studied process and highlighted new possibilities for the enzymatic catalysis of cycloaddition reactions. The study was published in
PLOS ONE journal.

Replacement of toxic chemical components by nontoxic and biocompatible natural analogs is one of the most popular approaches in sustainable projects. A study carried out at Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow) has shown that partial replacement of chemical compounds by their natural analogs may surprisingly lead to even more toxic products. The article published in Toxicology Research describes increased toxicity of ionic liquids after incorporation of amino acid residues.

Chemical science is in need to replace more and more expansive metal catalysts with easier accessible alternatives. Finding an opportunity to employ non-precious metals for chemicals production would solve the problem and will ensure sustainable future.

A superatom is a combination of two or more atoms that form a stable structural fragment and possess unique physical and chemical properties. Systems that contain superatoms open a number of possibilities for not only formation of new materials, but also for revealing unusual chemical reactivity. Throughout a given chemical transformation process, a superatom acts as a single unit and is left unchanged during the reaction. As a result, it would be logical to consider superatoms as elements of the periodic table in a nanoscale world. Potential areas of application for superatoms are quite broad – currently, many research directions are being explored worldwide in catalysis, material sciences, organometallic chemistry, and medical research.